Encouragement
by sierragust
Summary: While traveling to the Veniccio borderline, Max and Monica are stranded in a village unfamiliar to them. What will happen?


**A/N: Hey, guys. Sorry about the wait. I just had to put "Atonement" on hold and start this new story, which is a ****_Naruto Shippuden_**** crossover story with Level-5's ****_Dark Cloud 2_**** (or ****_Dark Chronicle_**** for those in Europe). The time of this story takes place after the Pein arc in ****_Naruto Shippuden_**** and after the third chapter of ****_DC2_****, The Sage who Became a Star. Also, I know that Danzō takes Tsunade's place during the Five Kage Summit arc, but just pretend that she's alright.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and Dark Cloud 2 or any of its characters whatsoever. They belong to Masashi Kishimoto and Akihiro Hino.**

**X~X~X**

Water dripped down from the caverns of the Balance Valley station as Max, Monica, Borneo, Erik and Cedric boarded the Blackstone One and headed towards Veniccio on Crest's orders in order to restore Luna Lab to its former glory.

As the train whistle blew and the locomotive itself started moving in increased speed, Max sat next to Monica, who was polishing her blue Atlamillia, which has fogged over from the flames during her battle with Gaspard.

"Monica, can I ask you something?" Max asked, running his fingers through his blond hair and shaking some ash and soot off.

"What is it?" the pink-haired Princess asked, not taking her eyes off the stone.

"What was your mother like?"

"Well, my mother was..." Monica was about to say when the train ran over something hard that violently rocked the entire cars.

"What's going on?" Max asked, looking out the window and seeing broken debris and gravel lying on the tracks.

Heading outside after the train made a screeching halt, they saw a huge piece of debris that looked like the roof of a building. Past the trees stood a large gate that was guarded.

"Darn. And here, I'd thought we'd get to Veniccio." Cedric said, stroking his goatee in thought while smoke escaped his lips from the cigar clenched between his teeth.

"We'll take care of this, don't worry." Borneo said, shifting his large hammer as he and Erik started to move the large piece of building.

"Alright." Max said as he and Monica headed towards the gate.

Upon nearing, however, they were immediately stopped by two guards in ninja uniforms, holding small daggers that looked like kunai. Both of them had a strange steel plate on their foreheads with an emblem of a leaf etched into the steel that was over a piece of blue cloth like a headband.

"State your names or we'll lock you up!" one of them said.

"Maximillian Yuri." Max said, avoiding the sharp glint of the kunai that was shining in his emerald eyes.

"Monica Raybrandt." Monica said, smiling.

The guards gave them a few odd looks before one of them said. "We'll bring you to the Fifth Hokage."

"Hokage? What's that? Some kind of sandwich?" Max asked, looking at Monica. She shrugged.

"Nothing I ever heard in my time before." She said, shaking her head.

As they were lead into a village that looked almost like a city that was being reconstructed, Max looked at the broken buildings and houses and saw a blond-haired young man, that had three lines on his face that looked like whiskers of a cat, talking to a pink-haired young woman.

"Hey, Izumo!" the pink-haired young woman said, addressing one of the guards as she and the blond headed toward them.

"Hello, Sakura." Izumo said, addressing the pink-haired young woman before looking at the blond. "Hello, Naruto."

"Who are they?" Sakura asked, looking at Max and Monica.

"We were going to take them over to the Hokage, and..."

"We'll do it!" Naruto said, pumping his fist into the air.

_'He almost sounds like Max.'_ Monica thought, giggling.

"Thanks." Max said, smiling. "It's our first time here, and we need some supplies."

Suddenly, the four heard a groaning sound, and Sakura moaned in annoyance.

"Naruto, tell me that wasn't your stomach." she said.

"Actually, it was me." Max said, blushing slightly. "We haven't had anything to eat ever since arriving."

"Well, you're in luck! Because we're going to have..." Naruto was about to say when Sakura suddenly punched him in the face, surprising the two.

"We're NOT going to have ramen!" Sakura roared, cracking her fist.

_'And I thought Monica was scary when she's mad.'_ Max thought, shocked.

"Why did you punch him, Sakura... was it?" Monica asked, looking at the pink-haired kunoichi.

"Because he gets on my nerves." Sakura said, looking at her. "Why don't I take you to a REAL restaurant?"

"Sure." Monica said, smiling.

With that, the two girls left, leaving Naruto and Max behind.

"Ouch." Naruto said, rubbing the spot where Sakura punched him.

"Are you alright?" Max asked, his red Atlamillia shining in the sunlight.

"Yeah." Naruto said, getting up and noticing that Monica and Sakura were gone. "Where's Sakura and your friend?"

"They're off somewhere." Max said, shrugging.

"Okay." Naruto said, smiling. "I hear there's some organic ramen available."

"Alright, I'll follow you." Max said, his stomach once again groaning.

X~X~X

"You're a time-traveler from the future?!" Sakura asked, her emerald eyes looking into Monica's red ones.

"Indeed." Monica said, looking down at her half-finished meal before she took another bite. "Max and I are on a mission to stop Griffon from destroying and rewriting history."

"Griffon?" Sakura repeated, confusion written on her face.

Monica nodded before setting her chopsticks down and drinking her tea.

"Wow. That's unbelievable." Sakura said, smiling at her new friend. "And is Max-kun… more than just your friend?"

Monica's face turned almost as red as her hair and eyes, but she didn't know what the "-kun" meant.

"No." She said, finishing her tea.

X~X~X

_Later, that day..._

"I have a new mission for you to take, Sakura." Tsunade said, looking at Sakura. "A warship has been spotted in the Land of Iron and I want you, Naruto, and Kakashi to investigate."

"Understood, milady." Sakura said, nodding before she left.

As she left the tower and approached the gates, Sakura saw Kakashi and Naruto standing there, but she also noticed that Monica was there as well.

"Monica, what are you doing here?" Sakura asked, looking at the pink-haired time-traveler.

"I have a score to settle with the owner of the warship." Monica said, resting her hand on the hilt of the Tsukikage. "Let me go with you."

Sakura giggled lazily at her friend's behavior, quickly earning a questioning look from her companion.

"Alright." She said, smiling. "Let's go."

X~X~X

As they headed towards the Land of Iron, Sakura told Monica about how another member of their team, a young man named Sasuke, had left the village in order to seek vengeance on his elder brother for slaughtering his entire clan in a single night.

Monica was about to say something before Naruto interrupted her.

"We're here." He said, stopping at a stone bridge and craning his head as the warship's engines roared nearby.

Glancing up at the warship, Monica immediately recognized it as the Death Ark, which belonged to Gaspard.

Craning her head, Sakura immediately saw Sasuke talking to a young man with silver hair, wearing a long black cloak and having long pointed ears. The only weapons she saw on him were a sword that looked like it was bathed in blood, its hilt looking like a skull of a horned demon alongside a scythe.

Before Kakashi and Naruto could do anything, Monica and Sakura ran up towards the two men, Monica immediately drawing her Tsukikage out as she faced her father's murderer while ignoring Sasuke's manic laughter after hearing Sakura declare her love for him.

"This isn't the time for love, Sakura!" Monica said, gripping her sword as she quickly blocked a vertical slash from Gaspard and was about to strike back when he flipped over her and onto the deck of the Death Ark, jumping onto the deck herself as she held her open palm out. "This will avenge my father!"

Turning his head as a fireball shot out from her open palm, Gaspard only smirked at Monica as he dodged her attacks.

"You have skill, Raybrandt. But not enough to beat me and avenge your father." Gaspard said, looking at Monica with a blank expression as a man with odd blue skin, having wild blue hair that was spiky, and goofy front teeth that looked like he recently got punched in the mouth, appeared beside him. "Jamming, we're leaving."

"Yes, sir." Dr. Jamming said, bowing.

As the engines roared to life, Gaspard took one last glance at his victim's daughter as the Death Ark vanished, leaving Monica to look up at where he was.

X~X~X

"You're leaving?!" Sakura asked, looking at Monica in shock.

"Yes." Monica said, looking at the pink-haired woman. "We have to continue our mission to stop Griffon from destroying the future."

"Well be careful out there..." Sakura said as she hugged the pink haired Princess.

As they boarded the train and after the whistle blew, Monica looked out of the window and watched as the Leaf village slowly went by her vision.


End file.
